So how come we can't play like this all the time?

Ok I have never played hockey(moved to Detroit in 93) so I don't understand how much backchecking and complete 60 minutes of hockey takes out of you, but we had the puck the entire game.

Is it simply because we scored the first goal Phoenix couldn't trap? I know I may have flawed thinking but if we played like that for the first four games it would have been a sweep.

I feel the game 7 outcome wasn't so much what Phoenix didn't do but what we did do. Does skating that hard and being that Psyical build up lactic acid in your legs so you can't play that way 4 straight games? I am not slamming the wings I just don't understand.

I think it's some of what you said, but mostly I think it's mental. I don't think I know any more than you, but my opinion is that when the Wings play like they did yesterday, they prepared and they executed and were probably just excited to be in a game 7. I'm sure anyone knows that when you're mentally drained it's almost worse than being physically drained, and the Wings were full of mental energy last night that allowed them to execute the play at lightning fast speed and precision.

I know everyone was "disgusted" and "embarrassed" and generally offended by the Wings' performance in Game 6, but I thought they came out of the gate in both games and controlled the play in much the same way. But in Game 6 Stuart made a stupid play and got the ball rolling for Phoenix, and in Game 7 nothing dumb happened, Pavel got a fortunate bounce off a skate and was able to get one past Bryz to get the ball rolling for the other guys.

Sometimes you need a little luck.

"We've been in the same spot all year long. We won 50 games for the fourth year in a row. People think we're just hum-drum and boring. No, you know what we are, we're good. You can't do what we do every single day and not be good." - Mike Babcock

I know everyone was "disgusted" and "embarrassed" and generally offended by the Wings' performance in Game 6, but I thought they came out of the gate in both games and controlled the play in much the same way. But in Game 6 Stuart made a stupid play and got the ball rolling for Phoenix, and in Game 7 nothing dumb happened, Pavel got a fortunate bounce off a skate and was able to get one past Bryz to get the ball rolling for the other guys.

Sometimes you need a little luck.

In the NHL playoffs, you make your own luck. But I guess with that argument you could say Stuart and Howard pretty much made the luck for the team in Game 6.

In the NHL playoffs, you make your own luck. But I guess with that argument you could say Stuart and Howard pretty much made the luck for the team in Game 6.

They were the agents of their own demise in Game 6, to be sure. And yet the Wings faced a similar situation in Game 7 -- Bryz playing out of his mind in the early going, Yotes hanging on for that one break to take the wind out of Detroit's sails -- and this time the puck just happens to find Pavel and away we go.

Such very little things that end up going a long way in determining the course of a game...

"We've been in the same spot all year long. We won 50 games for the fourth year in a row. People think we're just hum-drum and boring. No, you know what we are, we're good. You can't do what we do every single day and not be good." - Mike Babcock

Playing like that all the time just wouldn't be fair. The Wings are a charitable group, they like to let people win every once in a while. After all, who wants to watch a team go 82-0 in the regular season then 16-0 in the playoffs...

I think it's because it's simply not physically possible for them to play like that every game. If they did go at that pace every game, they would be gassed by the time they reach the finals (especially with the short breaks between series).

After Sunday's game, I figured they were done. Shame on me, because I came in at the beginning of the 3rd and when I saw they were up 4-1, I thought I was hallucinating. Although they were relentless until the end, it was not until the stoppage of play in the final 16 seconds that I was finally able to convince myself that there is no way the Coyotes can come back, illogical as it sounds.

To answer the question, the Redwings looked like a team on steroids last night as I had not seen them dominate a team like that in who knows how long. I would love to see them play that way all of the time, but am not sure that is possible.

That game was a sprint to the finish while the NHL playoffs are more of a marathon.

We wanted it more and we played like it. You can NOT bottle that up every night. Wish there was an answer for that but the team has to keep playing hard and they will have good things happen. Minimizing turnovers and converting power plays is huge for our team